[House Report 108-655]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
108th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session 108-655
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HARPERS FERRY NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK BOUNDARY REVISION ACT OF 2004
_______
September 7, 2004.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on
the State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Pombo, from the Committee on Resources, submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 1576]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill (S.
1576) to revise the boundary of Harpers Ferry National
Historical Park, and for other purposes, having considered the
same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend
that the bill do pass.
Purpose of the Bill
The purpose of S. 1576 is to revise the boundary of Harpers
Ferry National Historical Park and for other purposes.
Background and Need For Legislation
Located at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah
Rivers in West Virginia, Harpers Ferry is the site of a former
federal armory that was captured by abolitionist John Brown and
his followers in 1859. The site was elevated to national park
status in 1944 by act of Congress.
In 2001, at the direction of Congress, the National Park
Service undertook outreach efforts and public meetings to
explain the options for expanding the boundary of the
Historical Park. The National Park Service transmitted the
results of the outreach efforts to Congress in a report titled
``Report to the Senate Appropriations Committee of the United
States Congress on the Public Outreach Program at Harpers Ferry
National Historical Park, in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, to
Explain the Options to Expand the Park's Boundaries and
Determine if there is a Public Consensus for Expansion''
(September 2002). The report concluded that there exists an
overwhelming public consensus (94%) for expansion of the Park.
S. 1576 would incorporate into the boundary of the Park and
provide protection for nine parcels of land currently
threatened by development. Such parcels include sites related
to the historical events that took place in Harpers Ferry,
including the following: properties on School House Ridge,
which was the position of Confederate General Stonewall Jackson
during the battle for Harpers Ferry in 1862; the Werner tract,
which protects the southern viewshed of the Park; a portion of
the Appalachian National Scenic Trail that contains Civil War
campgrounds; and Potoma Wayside that protects part of the view
Thomas Jefferson described in his Journals on the State of
Virginia.
Committee Action
Senator Robert Byrd introduced S. 1576 on September 3,
2003. The Senate passed the bill on May 19, 2004, by unanimous
consent. It was referred to the House Committee on Resources
and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on National Parks,
Recreation and Public Lands. On June 15, 2004, the Subcommittee
conducted a hearing on the bill. On July 8, 2004, the
Subcommittee met to mark up the bill. No amendments were
offered and the bill was forwarded to the Full Resources
Committee by unanimous consent. On July 14, 2004, the Full
Resources Committee met to consider the bill. No amendments
were offered and the bill was ordered favorably reported to the
House of Representatives by unanimous consent.
Committee Oversight Findings and Recommendations
Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the
Committee on Resources' oversight findings and recommendations
are reflected in the body of this report.
Constitutional Authority Statement
Article I, section 8 and Article IV, section 3 of the
Constitution of the United States grant Congress the authority
to enact this bill.
Compliance With House Rule XIII
1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the
Rules of the House of Representatives requires an estimate and
a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be
incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(3)(B)
of that rule provides that this requirement does not apply when
the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted
cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the
Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
2. Congressional Budget Act. As required by clause 3(c)(2)
of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and
section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, this
bill does not contain any new budget authority, spending
authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in
revenues or tax expenditures.
3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by
clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or
objective of this bill is to revise the boundary of Harpers
Ferry National Historical Park.
4. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate. Under clause
3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives and section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act
of 1974, the Committee has received the following cost estimate
for this bill from the Director of the Congressional Budget
Office:
S. 1576--Harpers Ferry National Historical Park Boundary Revision Act
of 2003
S. 1576 would expand the boundary of the Harpers Ferry
National Historical Park in West Virginia by about 1,240 acres.
The act would authorize the National Park Service (NPS) to
acquire the added acreage by purchase, donation, or exchange,
except that lands that are already owned by the federal
government would be acquired by transfer. Finally, the act
would authorize the appropriation of whatever amounts are
necessary for these purposes.
Assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts, CBO
estimates that implementing S. 1576 would cost the federal
government about $5 million over the next year or two. Of this
amount, we estimate that $4 million would be used to purchase
about 190 acres of private property, and $1 million would be
used to develop that land. The remaining acreage that would be
added to the park is either already owned by the federal
government or would be donated by the nonprofit Civil War
Preservation Trust. CBO estimates that additional costs to
operate and maintain those additional lands would be less than
$200,000 a year. This estimate is based on information provided
by the NPS.
S. 1576 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and
would have no significant impact on the budgets of state,
local, or tribal governments.
On March 25, 2004, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for S.
1576 as ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Energy and
Natural Resources on March 9, 2004. The two versions of the
legislation are identical, as are the estimated costs.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Deborah Reis.
This estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy
Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.
Compliance With Public Law 104-4
This bill contains no unfunded mandates.
Preemption of State, Local or Tribal Law
This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or
tribal law.
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported
In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new
matter is printed in italics, existing law in which no change
is proposed is shown in roman):
ACT OF JUNE 30, 1944
AN ACT To provide for the establishment of the Harpers Ferry National
Monument.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled, [That, in
order to carry out the purposes of this Act, the Secretary of
the Interior is authorized to acquire lands or interests in
lands, by donation, purchase with donated or appropriated
funds, or exchange, within the boundaries as generally depicted
on the drawing entitled ``Boundary Map, Harpers Ferry National
Historical Park'', numbered 384-80,021A and dated April 1979,
which shall be on file and available for public inspection in
the offices of the National Park Service, Department of the
Interior: Provided, That after advising the Committee on Energy
and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on
Natural Resources of the House of Representatives, in writing,
the Secretary may make minor revisions in the boundary, when
necessary, by publication of a revised drawing or other
boundary description in the Federal Register, but the total
acreage shall not exceed two thousand five hundred and five
acres: Provided further, That nothing herein shall be deemed to
authorize the acquisition, without consent of the owner, of a
fee simple interest in lands within the boundaries in which a
less than fee interest has previously been acquired by the
Secretary of the Interior. The Secretary is authorized to
acquire, by donation only, approximately twenty-seven acres of
land or interests therein which are outside the boundary of the
Harpers Ferry National Historical Park and generally depicted
on a map entitled ``Proposed Bradley and Ruth Nash Addition--
Harpers Ferry National Historical Park,'' dated April 1, 1989
and numbered 385-80056. Such map shall be on file and available
for public inspection in the offices of the National Park
Service, Department of the Interior, Washington, District of
Columbia. When acquired, such lands or interests therein shall
become a part of the park, subject to the laws and regulations
applicable thereto. Any Federal land within the area designated
by the Secretary of the Interior as necessary for monument
purposes shall be transferred to the administration of the
Department of the Interior and when so transferred shall become
a part of the monument: Provided, That the Federal department
or agency having administration over such land shall agree in
advance to such transfer.]
SECTION 1. HARPERS FERRY NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK.
(a) In General.--To carry out the purposes of this Act, the
Secretary of the Interior (referred to in this Act as the
``Secretary'') is authorized to acquire, by purchase from a
willing seller with donated or appropriated funds, by donation,
or by exchange, land or an interest in land within the
boundaries as generally depicted on the map entitled ``Boundary
Map, Harpers Ferry National Historical Park'', numbered 385-
80,021A, and dated April 1979.
(b) Bradley and Ruth Nash Addition.--The Secretary is
authorized to acquire, by donation only, approximately 27 acres
of land or interests in land that are outside the boundary of
the Harpers Ferry National Historical Park and generally
depicted on the map entitled ``Proposed Bradley and Ruth Nash
Addition--Harpers Ferry National Historical Park'', numbered
385-80056, and dated April 1, 1989.
(c) Boundary Expansion.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary is authorized to
acquire, by purchase from a willing seller with donated
or appropriated funds, by donation, or by exchange,
land or an interest in land within the area depicted as
``Private Lands'' on the map entitled ``Harpers Ferry
National Historical Park Proposed Boundary Expansion,''
numbered 385/80,126, and dated July 14, 2003.
(2) Administration.--The Secretary shall--
(A) transfer to the National Park Service for
inclusion in the Harpers Ferry National
Historical Park (referred to in this Act as the
``Park'') the land depicted on the map referred
to in paragraph (1) as ``U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service Lands'' and revise the boundary of the
Park accordingly; and
(B) revise the boundary of the Park to
include the land depicted on the map referred
to in paragraph (1) as ``Appalachian NST'' and
exclude that land from the boundary of the
Appalachian National Scenic Trail.
(d) Maximum Number of Acres.--The number of acres of the Park
shall not exceed 3,745.
(e) Maps.--The maps referred to in this section shall be on
file and available for public inspection in the appropriate
offices of the National Park Service.
(f) Acquired Land.--Land or an interest in land acquired
under this section shall become a part of the Park, subject to
the laws (including regulations) applicable to the Park.
(g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to
be appropriated such sums as are necessary to carry out this
section.
Sec. 2. The property acquired under the provisions of section
1 of this Act shall constitute the Harpers Ferry National
Monument and shall be a public national memorial commemorating
historical events at or near Harpers Ferry. The Director of the
National Park Service under the direction of the Secretary [of
the Interior], shall have the supervision, management, and
control of such national monument, and shall maintain and
preserve it for the benefit and enjoyment of the people of the
United States, subject to the provisions of the Act of August
25, 1916 (39 Stat. 535), entitled ``An Act to establish a
National Park Service, and for other purposes'', as amended.
Sec. 3. The Secretary [of the Interior] is authorized to--
(1) * * *
* * * * * * *